23 November 2016

How I Conceived

Last month I reviewed a story by Jeffrey Siger, which resulted in some e-conversation, and that led to what you see below. Jeffrey is an
American living on the Aegean Greek island of Mykonos. He gave up his career as a name partner in his own
New York City law firm to write mystery thrillers. His books have been nominated for the Left Coast Crime and Barry Awards.

The New York Times called his Andreas
Kaldis series “thoughtful police procedurals set in picturesque but not untroubled Greek
locales.” Today he will tell us how he wrote the latest and eighth in the series, Santorini Caesars. - Robert Lopresti .

by Jeffrey Siger

I never thought when Robert Lopresti generously offered me the
opportunity of posting as a guest on SleuthSayers that I’d be talking about
conception, but hey, nothing surprises me these days, and if it’s details on
how I conceived my latest Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis novel the SleuthSayers
faithful want, that’s what they shall get!

A dozen years ago, when I decided to walk away from my life
as a name partner in my own New York City law firm to unite my loves of Greece
and mystery writing, I said to myself I would not write fluff. I would write what I thought should be said
in a way that told the truth as I saw it about a country and a people I cared
very deeply about—little realizing at the time how applicable my observations
on Greece would be to so much of the rest of our world.

When I started writing the series, I didn’t intend on
becoming a chronicler of Greece’s trials and tribulations, but things just sort
of turned out that way, as each novel gravitated toward exploring a different
aspect of Greek society, and before I knew it I found myself immersed in
creating a collage of what Greece is all about.

For example, I’ve written about the relationships of Greek
islanders and mainlanders, Greeks and their government, Greeks and their
church, Greeks and immigrants, Greeks and their families, Greeks and their
financial crises, and in my just released #8 in the series, “Santorini Caesars,”
Greeks and their military. As important as are the elements making up that
collage, is the glue that holds it all together—the unvarnished perspective of
my protagonist, Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis.

Andreas is a politically incorrect, second-generation cop,
and an honest observer of his times, who despite all that life and the system
throw at him, retains his integrity.
Perhaps most significant for purposes of my stories is the unfettered
access he has to all levels of Greek society, be it the seamy underbelly of its
most degenerate bottom rung as head of Greece’s special crimes unit, or the
glittering lifestyles of Greece’s movers and shakers by reason of his marriage.

The idea for writing about the Greek military in “Santorini
Caesars” had been percolating in my mind for quite a few years. After all, much
of the nation’s modern history stands shaped by the Greek Military Junta Years
of 1967-74, and until the financial crisis struck a few years back, Greece
numbered among the world’s five biggest arms importers. Even today Greece has four times the number
of German made top of the line Leopard tanks as Germany’s own military.

But how to tie it all together in the context of a fast-paced
mystery thriller was my dilemma. Then one day it all came together, inspired by
a simple passing thought on the predicament known as Greece: “The fragile
fabric of a nation hangs in the balance.”

Greece stands before the world in perilous straits. With its government and economy in disarray,
its goals and leadership suspect, and men like Kaldis undoubtedly at odds with
its direction, life is not the same, nor likely to return to better days any time
soon, and many wonder if carrying on the fight matters any more.

Sound familiar?

Yes, Greece’s situation inspired the story, but as I wrote
it, I could not help but sense how many other places in the world faced nearly
identical circumstances. Here’s the plot line for “Santorini Caesars” that
evolved from that thought.

When a young demonstrator is publicly assassinated in the
heart of protest-charged Athens, the motive is murky and the array of suspects
immense. Kaldis’ investigation leads him
and his team to Santorini—an Aegean island of breathtaking beauty which legend
holds to be the site of the lost island of Atlantis—and a hush-hush gathering
of the Caesars, a cadre of Greece’s top military leaders seeking to form their
own response to the crises facing their country. Is it a coup d’état or
something else? The answer is by no means
clear, but the case resonates with political dimensions, and as international
intrigues evolve, the threat of another—far more dramatic—assassination looms
ever more real. As does the realization that only Kaldis can stop it. But at what price? It is a time for testing character,
commitment, and the common good. And for
saving the nation from chaos.

Wow, that sounds like a great read! I'll definitely check it out. I'm always up for a good Greek mystery; I was born in Greece, and adopted to the US in the 1950s (yes, the years of the great baby-selling scandals, and I'm probably one of the "stolen babies"). I ended up in a Greek-American family, which kept some of the culture alive. Thanks for writing for us!

My aunt was a Greek aficionado as a professor of art and history and helped me become interested beyond retsina and spanakopita. I’m convinced only Greeks know what to do with eggplants.

Orlando just ended their Greek festival. Some years ago I was sitting in their highly-decorated Orthodox Church when I suddenly realized I could read the names of saints and disciples, thanks to having to learn the alphabet in science and engineering school.

I look forward to your book. I’ve never been able to get Z out of my mind, so I find the people resisting the junta very brave indeed.